Book of Hours

This Flemish Book of Hours was produced between 1470 and 1480, possibly in Hainaut, by artists working in the style of French illuminator Simon Marmion, whose work has been recorded in northeastern France and Flanders between 1449 and 1489. The large number of feast days associated with Liège in the calendar further highlights the region of production. The book contains twelve full-page miniatures, of which five are rendered in color and seven in grisaille. The number of artists involved in the production of the full-page miniatures is disputed, ranging from two (see Legaré 1999 and Kren 2003 in the bibliography) to four (see Randall 1997). Legaré and Kren attribute the color and grisaille miniatures to the Master of Antoine Rolin and the St. Anthony miniature on fol. 102v, which was added slightly later, to a master follower of Simon Marmion. Randall identifies four artists: the first responsible for the Annunciation (fol. 22v); the remaining three color miniatures (not counting the added St. Anthony), were executed by a competent associate; a third artist produced the grisaille miniatures of the Infancy cycle; and a fourth, master artist created the color miniature of St. Anthony (fol. 102v), which was added later to the book, probably in the 1480s and Randall suggests possibly by Simon Marmion himself. The borders of the manuscript are undecorated, and the decoration of the initials in the text is routine.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Wilhelmus (Guillaume) Godefroy, Liège, late 15th-16th century [1]; inherited by the heirs of Wilhelmus (Guillaume) Godefroy. Léon Gruel, Paris, late 19th-early 20th century [2]; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, early 20th century; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

[1] Personal notations and inscriptions include "Che livre appartient / Wilh' Godefroy escheuin de liege" on front flyleaf and "guilleame de..." on fol. 52r; added later, presumably by an heir, is eleven-line inscription in French on the front flyleaf, with references to family members, including an heir of Guillaume Godefroy
[2] Bookplate on front pastedown with initials "L G"